


Before I Go

by Anthrobrat



Series: Whatever This Is (McShifty) [3]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Episode: s01e10 Points, Fluff and Angst, Goodbye Kisses, Goodbyes, I'm so sorry, M/M, Or Is It?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-26
Updated: 2020-10-26
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27201661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anthrobrat/pseuds/Anthrobrat
Summary: An idea of how a goodbye may have happened between Shifty and McClung after the lottery in "Points".
Relationships: Earl McClung/Shifty Powers
Series: Whatever This Is (McShifty) [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1990171
Comments: 6
Kudos: 16
Collections: Band of Boyfriends Kisstober Challenge 2020





	Before I Go

**Author's Note:**

> Here is my Day 19 KissTober Prompt a week late - goodbye kisses. 
> 
> (These characters are representations of the fictional HBO characters; I have the utmost respect for the real gentlemen of Easy Co and the 101st.)

When Shifty’s name and number were called at the assembly, a round of whistles and howls went up before everyone converged on him in congratulations. His heart soared at the idea of being let free, before he was overwhelmed with sadness -- he got to go home, but his brothers, his friends, Earl, did not. When he looked around to see where his closest friend was, he was nowhere to be seen. Had he even shown up? Shifty couldn’t remember when he’d seen him, but that was okay, he knew where to look. 

When the guys told him the truck was leaving and he needed to be on it, he simply kept walking. If the truck left without him, then he just supposed he wasn’t meant to leave anyhow. He had people to see. It was important. So he turned right at the convoy and headed up into the woods to find his dear friend. 

It was ironic to stalk a man like he might stalk a deer, but he needed to find Earl. He had to say goodbye. When he came upon him, bent over a broken branch listening for movement in the distance, he paused to take in the scene before he spoke. He could tell Earl knew he was there, their familiarity edging toward synchronicity, so he waited and watched, soaking up memories of his movements and hoping he would break their silence. When he didn’t, Shifty gave in. 

“They’re sending me home, Earl. I won the lottery,” Shifty said quietly as he approached the crouched hunter in the woods outside the base. 

“Figured as much. I wouldn’t be surprised if yours was the only name in that hat,” McClung whispered, not moving his eyes from their exploration of the undisturbed forest ahead of him. “Ain’t nobody here who deserves it more than you.”

“Now I don’t know if that’s true.”

“Course it is.”

“Lots of guys deserve to go home.”

“None of them’s done what you did for us, Shift.”

“I was talking about you, Earl. You deserve to go home.” Shifty laid a light hand on his shoulder and he finally turned his head. “You done as much for this company as I have.”

“I did what was expected of me, Darrell. Ain’t anybody’s fault that it was more than most.” McClung sighed and turned his head back to the forest. 

“Will you come visit when you get home?” Shifty continued, now pointing his eyes in the same direction as the other man’s but not removing his hand.

“If I don’t die as lead scout in Japan, I’ll come find ya.”

“Please don’t talk like that, Earl. We’ve made it this far, you’ll make it home.”

Shifty wanted to shake him, to beg to be reassured that the other man would be okay. How was he supposed to survive being home when he’d be worried every moment that something might happen because he wasn’t there to prevent it? 

“I can hear your head spinning. It ain’t your responsibility, Shift. Go home.”

Shifty fell silent once again, but couldn’t bring himself to walk away. This man had come to mean so much to him, he just wasn’t sure how to leave his side. He wasn’t sure what exactly their relationship had become, he didn’t understand much about it himself, but he knew this wasn’t how they were supposed to say goodbye. He supposed he hadn’t ever wanted to say goodbye at all.

He watched over Earl’s shoulder as he lined up the deer in his sights, but instead of pulling the trigger, Earl lowered the rifle and turned around. 

“If you’re waiting for something specific you’re gonna have to just come out and say it,” Earl said as he swung his rifle onto his shoulder and put his hands on his hips. 

Shifty frowned at his friend. In the past Earl had been the one to start things between them. It wasn’t that Shifty was scared or nothing, he just didn’t quite know what the boundaries were. He certainly didn’t want to step on Earl’s toes, but thinking back, maybe what he saw as giving Earl space to decide what he wanted could’ve come off as passive neglect. 

This would maybe be his last chance to fix his mistake and show Earl how important he was. He had no idea how to put any of it into words, so he would have to show him. 

“I suppose I’m waiting on you to come over here and kiss me goodbye,” he finally said after an indecipherable amount of time. The patience of his friend astounded him. Made Shifty feel a little like that deer in Earl’s sights. 

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise when Earl’s patience seemed to run thin at that very moment. There was no hesitation as Earl slid a hand around the back of his head and pulled Shifty forward to his waiting mouth. He sighed into Earl’s kiss, slipping back into the comfort of their closeness, forgetting why exactly he had come all the way up here. The softness of Earl’s lips still shocked Shifty every time they came together, but the scratch of stubble and the strength with which he was pinned against a tree made him remember exactly who he was with. 

Shifty wrapped his arms around his best friend, trying in vain to get a little closer as Earl slid a leg between his. He knew he had to go, had to get back to the truck. The truck would be leaving without him. Maybe that was okay, he considered, because he needed this more than he needed to go home. Earl was suddenly and absolutely more important than his Mama or his own life. There was no way he could say goodbye. 

Instead, he opened his mouth, letting his tongue dance with Earl’s. Their breath mingled as one of his hands drifted from Earl’s shoulders down to his waist and around to his belt buckle. They hadn’t done anything more than kiss before, being either too afraid to get caught or too afraid of what it all might mean. He wished there’d been more. He thought they’d have more time.

“I can’t leave you. I can’t. I won’t,” he cried into Earl’s mouth, but Earl pulled away, instead leaning their foreheads together. He looked up from underneath his beautiful eyelashes.

“Bye Shift. I’ll see you soon. I promise.” Earl kissed him one more time before turning and bounding deeper into the woods. Before Shifty knew to look, he was gone. He tried to hold back the tears, and leaned his head against the tree. He felt a pain so sudden he was sure it was his heart cracking in two. 

It was at that moment that Shifty woke up and realized the pain was, instead, caused by his own injuries. It radiated from his head and shoulder down his whole left side. The sudden switch almost made him choke. This was his punishment, he supposed, for allowing himself to be sent away from those he had sworn to protect. 

By God did he already miss Earl. His friend. His everything. How had he allowed himself to climb into that truck without saying goodbye? What did he think they were going to do? Leave without him? As he tried to blink back his tears, he looked to his tiny bedside table. There, leaned up against his lamp, was a letter. He knew the handwriting as if it were his own. 

**Author's Note:**

> I'm sorry to those who are reading these tiny snippets of a larger incomplete story that only exists in my head. I know that they don't necessarily match up. 
> 
> And, as always, comments are love!


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